There has probably never been a smaller rugby hooker.

It was all his dad's fault. Jon Williams had worn his father's number 2 jersey to Manchester University's rugby trials and it sort of stuck. For three seasons.

"I was almost lifted into the scrum by the props," he smiled, "but if I got the ball I left everyone else standing."

This isn't idle boasting. Jon was - is for a 36-year-old - fast. His natural position is scrum-half (number 9), but when he went for those trials there were five other scrum-half wannabes.

He was desperate to play the game he loved, so hooker it was. At 5ft 8ins he was dwarfed, but he learnt.

It gave him an insight into the front row which made him a much better player, even though the day after he had played he could never get out of bed.

"Oh, it wasn't because of too much celebration, or commiseration," he grinned. "I literally couldn't move. The blokes I played against were huge and I ached all over. I missed so many lectures."

When Jon joined Mersea Island RFU in 1995, it was as fly-half (number 10). Now, though, he is back where he belongs, scrum-half - and record breaking. It's some record, too. On Saturday he scored his 2,000th point for the club - 94 tries, 211 penalties, 436 conversions, 11 drop-goals - and Essex RFU believe he is the first player in the county to reach that figure. It was a milestone he and his club knew he would achieve this season. It was just a question of when.

Which was the reason for the interview. I had been waiting for a month for Jon to hit the magical 2,000th point. Finally, when there were just four to go, we fixed the interview. He promised he would make it 2,000 on Saturday. I believed him.

When we met, it was so obvious Jon is into sport. You can always tell. Maybe it's the fact he looks so fit. Or maybe it's his handshake which could easily worry the unprepared.

He had brought his two children, Thomas, aged eight, and Harry, five, with him. They were wearing Mersea Island RFU jerseys; both are almost as mad about the game as their dad. In fact, Thomas is showing himself to be something of a player, too. He plays for Colchester Minis (part of Colchester RFU) and has already run in 61 tries this season.

"Dad hasn't got any tries," said Thomas.

Dad looked sheepish. "All my points this season are from the boot," Jon said. "Thomas has done far better than his dad!"

Jon has the most wonderful soft, lilting Welsh accent. His children are north Essex, but there is no mistaking their father's roots. And those roots mean rugby.

He was born in Alltwen in the Swansea valley. His dad was the village policeman and, similar to every other male over the age of four, into rugby in a big way. In the late 1960s, he played with the legendary Phil Bennett, just before Bennett became Wales's best-ever fly-half.

This made his dad a bit of a hero. Jon remembers playing with his father, just the two of them, on a rugby pitch at the bottom of their garden.

"There was a stream at the bottom of our garden and dad built a bridge which led on to one of the rugby pitches. I spent so much time there. It was heaven - there I was, imagining I was kicking goals for Wales. What more can you want?"

After primary school, Jon went to Cwmtawe School, which boasted Gareth Edwards, Welsh captain and Bennett's contemporary, as alumni. Jon was even coached at the school by Edwards' brother, Gethin. But when his family moved, Jon found himself at a "massive city comprehensive" where the personal touch was missing.

That didn't dampen his love for the game. It explains why, when he went to Manchester to study countryside management, he was willing to grasp any position just to keep on playing.

It was while at Manchester he met his wife, Nikki. She was the year above him and taking a degree in leisure management. After graduation, Jon moved to Colchester to live with Nikki and her parents because she had a job and he didn't.

For some time, he has been operations manager for Tendring Adult Community Learning. It is, he said, a "truly satisfying" job.

The family now live at Thorpe, which does beg the question - how does Mersea Island fit in?

"Nikki and I went for a meal at a pub and saw a group of blokes wearing Mersea Island rugby shirts," he said. "We got talking and I discovered the club had just been promoted to Eastern Counties Division 4.

"I felt the club was going places. I was right."

Mersea Island have now reached the dizzy heights of the London North East Division 3.

Nikki won't let Jon retire - "she says I owe it to myself to play at this level" - and his work with the club and for rugby generally has just earned him an RFU Valuable Volunteer Award.

He may not have been the right size for a hooker, but this is a big, big man.